After nearly a century, Jones College closing by end of year

After 99 years, career education institute Jones College will be closing its doors by the end of the year.

The college, which offers associate and bachelor's degrees in business, information technology, medical, legal and education fields, has been considered a reputable school for years with accreditation through the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.

Accreditation is a seal of approval for the quality of a school. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education decided accreditation from ACICS was unacceptable.

"There were a lot of red flags with how ACICS was doing business as a quality assurance agency, and it did not seem likely that the agency could possibly fix them all in a reasonable amount of time,” the DOE wrote on its official blog.

The DOE cited problems such as "ensuring the accuracy of data, uneven ACICS monitoring of schools and enforcement of quality standards" in its decision.

Any school that received its approval through ACICS has to find another accreditation, but Jones College said in a public notice that it will not be seeking to renew its accreditation with another regional or national agency and will instead close its doors by Dec. 31.

Jones College, which was originally established in 1918 as Jones Business College, said on its website that it's no longer accepting applications. The last day of class will be mid-August.

About 300 students who have been working toward two- or four-year degrees at Jones College will now be transferred to Keiser University to complete their studies. Many of those students expressed sadness and frustration about the closure online.

The college began as a private school operating out of a home and became the first business college to have a dorm. Room and board was $12 a week. After educating thousands of students over the last century, Jones College was converted to a corporation and its east side campus became senior citizen housing.

Students with complaints relating to Title IV eligibility or administration, the quality of education received at Jones College or otherwise relating to the accreditation standards of Jones College’s former accrediting agency, ACICS, can submit their complaints to Jones College, attention Dr. Mayra Nunez at mnunez@jones.edu, and/or to any of the following agencies: